Rudy’s Whim May Earn Him The Big Win

GN native is a finalist in the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl ad contest

By Mara Bollettieri

For the past decade, people from all over the globe have submitted their 30-second homemade commercials, trying to win the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl ad contest. This year, fans can vote for the best ad until Sunday, Jan. 31.

David M. Rudy

On a whim, David M. Rudy, former Great Neck resident and owner of the talent management company Armada Partners in LA, decided to create an ad. Rudy’s whim may just get him the big win—to be broadcast during Super Bowl 50 on Sunday, Feb. 7.

While Rudy was at a party with his friend Mark Leslie Ford, the main character in the commercial and Rudy’s coproducer, client and friend, he saw Ford eating Doritos. Rudy suggested that they go for the Doritos Super Bowl ad contest and Ford agreed. That was the a-ha moment.

Not only is Rudy’s commercial hilarious, but it’s also extremely relatable. Rudy took the challenges of dating today and turned it into a clever Doritos ad.

Rudy’s 30-second commercial, called Swipe for Doritos, parodies dating apps. The man in the commercial, played by Ford, is sitting at a restaurant continuously swiping left on his phone, indicating that he’s not interested in any of the potential matches who appear at the table.

Each match is the stereotypical nightmare someone could meet through a dating app—a cougar, a goth girl or a crazy cat lady, who’s played by former Great Neck resident, actress and writer Keri Safran.

What inspired Rudy to make this ad? “I found that dating is difficult in this day and age,” said Rudy. “I’m on the sites, I’m single. I talked to my friends, and the commercial became a mix of everyone’s stories. We knew it was relevant and funny and everyone could really relate, so that was the great thing about it.”

In the ad, after Ford continuously rejects all the matches, 90-year-old Doris Roberts, known for her role as Marie Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond, appears and says, “I’m a youthful 32.” The man seems disappointed at first, but is overjoyed as she whips out a bag of Doritos and munches away. He swipes right for the first time to make a match. But when he attempts to grab some Doritos from her, she picks up her phone, rejects the match and poof, he instantly disappears. Roberts happily continues to eat her Doritos.

Having such a great and well-known actress as Roberts appear in the commercial definitely gives Rudy a great advantage. The actors featured in the advertisement are Rudy’s clients who loved his idea and wanted to be involved. His colleagues gave him the idea of casting Roberts as the youthful 32-year-old.

“When it came to Roberts, I didn’t think I could get her and my friends thought it was a good idea,” said Rudy, whose motto is, “If I don’t ask, the answer is always ‘no,’” so he cold-called Robert’s manager. Her manager loved the idea and the part, and so did Roberts; she agreed to do it the very next day.

This is the first time that Rudy’s done a project like this. “I represent actors as a living,” said Rudy. “[This was] my first time working with a team behind the camera and working with editors, crew and cast.” He said that it was his “first adventure” because his job is to help actors get on TV as opposed to creating and producing something himself. “I’m a dealmaker, not a filmmaker…until now,” he explained, emphasizing that this experience has been “mind blowing.”

Out of around 4,500 global submissions, Rudy was chosen as one of three finalists who are invited to the Super Bowl to find out whose commercial will be chosen. The two finalists who don’t win are each guaranteed $100,000, but the grand prize winner gets $1 million—and will collaborate on a project with Director Zack Snyder of Man of Steel and the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Entertainment.

If Rudy wins, he would use the funds to “help move production forward, make some more projects” and would give what he could back to the community. Being raised in Great Neck by a good family, Rudy joked that if he didn’t give back, he wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“If they air my commercial, in that moment I [would] know that I won [and] I’d be like ‘Okay, what’s next?’” There are stories he’d love to make into a TV show and he’d love to do more commercials. Rudy said he would love to explore “every different avenue to produce…to be able to become a story-teller is one of the fun, creative sides of Hollywood. So if this opportunity allows me to do that, it would be great.”

You can support your fellow Great Necker by watching his hysterical ad and vote for him by Sunday, Jan. 31, at www.swipefordoritos.com. One vote is allowed per day per device.

“Without the support of everybody out there, from family, friends of friends…the people voting daily for the commercial, we can’t win,” said Rudy. “It’s out of our hands…I think that’s the exciting part…it’s a global social vote….Everyone should vote, but my mom will probably see you at the supermarket and remind you anyway. Vote daily, vote everywhere and vote Swipe for Doritos…it’s my mantra.”

Since 1908, Great Neck Record has served the communities of Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock, Thomaston and the unincorporated areas as a source for local news and community events.